Comparative performance of friction damped systems and base isolation systems for earthquake retrofit and aseismic design

The seismic performance of a steel framed structure equipped with (i) friction damping devices and (ii) base isolators is compared. A parametric study based on energy concepts is performed first using time-history dynamic analysis to determine the optimum properties of the two systems when excited by an earthquake whose energy is distributed over a relatively broad frequency band (1940 El Centro, N-S). Using these same properties, the responses of the two structural systems are then examined when excited by earthquakes whose power content essentially is concentrated at the low frequency end of the energy spectrum (1977 Romania, Bucharest, N-S and 1985 Mexico, SCT E-W). The results of the study show that, while both systems similarly reduce the response of conventional structures to the California earthquake, the friction damped structure exhibits a superior performance under the low frequency earthquakes. Very large shear forces and displacements are observed when the Romania and Mexico earthquakes are applied to the base isolated structure, indicating that the performance of a base isolated structure depends on the characteristics of the site earthquake. By comparison, friction damped structures are shown to behave favourably under the three earthquakes studied; this suggests that friction damping devices offer a more consistent way of protecting structures during earthquakes.     

Deterministic earthquake damage and loss assessment for the city of Bucharest, Romania

On March 4, 1977, an earthquake with a moment magnitude M _w 7.4 at a hypocentral depth of 94 km hit the Vrancea region (Romania). In Bucharest alone, the earthquake caused severe damage to 33,000 buildings while 1,424 people were killed. Under the umbrella of the SAFER project, the city of Bucharest, being one of the larger European cities at risk, was chosen as a test bed for the estimation of damage and connected losses in case of a future large magnitude earthquake in the Vrancea area. For the conduct of these purely deterministic damage and loss computations, the open-source software SELENA is applied. In order to represent a large event in the Vrancea region, a set of deterministic scenarios were defined by combining ranges of focal parameters, i.e., magnitude, focal depth, and epicentral location. Ground motion values are computed by consideration of different ground motion prediction equations that are believed to represent earthquake attenuation effects in the region. Variations in damage and loss estimates are investigated through considering different sets of building vulnerability curves (provided by HAZUS-MH and various European authors) to characterize the damaging behavior of prevalent building typologies in the city of Bucharest.     

Maps of recent vertical crustal movements in Romania: Similarities and differences

A new map of recent crustal vertical movements (RCVM) in Romania, on the basis of high-precision geodetical measurements by the repeated levelling method, had become necessary firstly as a consequence of the great seismic event of March 4, 1977 with foci under the Vrancea Region (the most important seismic zone in the country) and secondly because many years had passed since the previous edition.Certainly, there are similitudes and differences between the two editions, and the authors will try to put these into evidence and explain them.The general view of the major geological units of Romania in both maps is the same: the mountain regions being zones of more or less continuous uplift, the plains showing subsidence movements and the plateau regions presenting a relative stability. Some modifications became apparent owing to the improvement of the national geodetical network on which the repeated levelling measurements were performed and following the choice of the Harbour of Constanţa as the fundamental point.     

Evaluation of the seismic hazard for 20 cities in Romania using Monte Carlo based simulations

This work focuses on the evaluation of the seismic hazard for Romania using earthquake catalogues generated by a Monte Carlo approach. The seismicity of Romania can be attributed to the Vrancea intermediate-depth seismic source and to 13 other crustal seismic sources. The recurrence times of large magnitude seismic events (both crustal and subcrustal), as well as the moment release rates are computed using simulated earthquake catalogues. The results show that the largest contribution to the overall moment release for the crustal seismic sources is from the seismic regions in Bulgaria, while the seismic regions in Romania contribute less than 5% of the overall moment release. In addition, the computations show that the moment release rate for the Vrancea subcrustal seismic source is about ten times larger than that of all the crustal seismic sources. Finally, the Monte Carlo approach is used to evaluate the seismic hazard for 20 cities in Romania with populations larger than 100,000 inhabitants. The results show some differences between the seismic hazard values obtained through Monte-Carlo simulation and those in the Romanian seismic design code P100-1/2013, notably for cities situated in the western part of Romania that are influenced by local crustal seismic sources.     

Macroseismic field of the October 27, 2004 Vrancea (Romania) moderate subcrustal earthquake

On October 27, 2004, a moderate size earthquake occurred in the Vrancea seismogenic region (Romania). The Vrancea seismic zone is an area of concentrated seismicity at intermediate depths beneath the bending area of the southeastern Carpathians. The 2004 M _w?=?6 Vrancea subcrustal earthquake is the largest seismic event recorded in Romania since the 1990 earthquakes. With a maximum macroseismic intensity of VII Medvedev–Sponheuer–Kárník (MSK-64) scale, the seismic event was felt to a distance of 600 km from the epicentre. This earthquake caused no serious damage and human injuries. The main purpose of this paper is to present the macroseismic map of the earthquake based on the MSK-64 intensity scale. After the evaluation of the macroseismic effects of this earthquake, an intensity dataset has been obtained for 475 sites in the Romanian territory. Also, the maximum horizontal accelerations recorded in the area by the K2 network are compared to the intensity values.     

Advanced real-time acquisition of the Vrancea earthquake early warning system

The Vrancea seismogenic zone in Romania represents a peculiar source of seismic hazard, which is a major concern in Europe, especially to neighboring regions of Bulgaria, Serbia and Republic of Moldavia. Earthquakes in the Carpathian–Pannonian region are confined to the crust, except the Vrancea zone, where earthquakes with focal depth down to 200 km occur. One of the cities most affected by earthquakes in Europe is Bucharest. Situated at 140–170 km distance from Vrancea epicenter zone, Bucharest encountered many damages due to high energy Vrancea intermediate-depth earthquakes; the March 4, 1977 event (M_w=7.2) produced the collapse of 36 buildings with 8–12 levels, while more than 150 old buildings were seriously damaged. A dedicated set of applications and a method to rapidly estimate magnitude in 4–5 s from detection of P wave in the epicenter were developed. They were tested on all recorded data. The magnitude error for 77.9% of total considered events is in the interval [−0.3, +0.3] magnitude units. This is acceptable taking into account that the magnitude is computed from only 3 stations in a 5 s time interval (1 s delay is caused by data packing). The ability to rapidly estimate the earthquake magnitude combined with powerful real-time software, as parts of an early warning system, allows us to send earthquake warning to Bucharest in real time, in about 5 s after detection in the epicenter. This allows 20–27 s warning time to automatically issue preventive actions at the warned facility.     

Ground motion simulations for seismic stations in southern and eastern Romania and seismic hazard assessment

This research focuses on the evaluation of soil conditions for seismic stations in southern and eastern Romania, their influence on stochastic finite-fault simulations, and the impact of using them on the seismic hazard assessment. First, the horizontal-to-vertical spectral ratios (HVSR) are evaluated using ground motions recorded in 32 seismic stations during small magnitude (M _W  ≤ 6.0) Vrancea seismic events. Most of the seismic stations situated in the southern part of Romania exhibit multiple HVSR peaks over a broad period range. However, only the seismic stations in the eastern-most part of Romania have clear short-period predominant periods. Subsequently, stochastic finite-fault simulations are performed in order to evaluate the influence of the soil conditions on the ground motion amplitudes. The analyses show that the earthquake magnitude has a larger influence on the computed ground motion amplitudes for the short- and medium-period range, while the longer-period spectral ordinates tend to be influenced more by the soil conditions. Next, the impact of the previously evaluated soil conditions on the seismic hazard results for Romania is also investigated. The results reveal a significant impact of the soil conditions on the seismic hazard levels, especially for the sites characterized by long-period amplifications (sites situated mostly in southern Romania), and a less significant influence in the case of sites which have clear short predominant periods.     

2011年3月24日缅甸地震期间电离层TEC异常分析

基于IGS提供的2011年3月全球TEC数据,利用滑动时窗进行异常识别的方法,分析电离层赤道异常区TEC在缅甸地震期间的异常情况。结果表明：在震前10 d内,地震上空电离层TEC出现了明显的异常扰动,电离层异常北驼峰在16日至18日期间出现了明显的较大区域负异常现象,且在18日时北驼峰明显向磁赤道漂移,负异常在19日时基本消失;而在地震发生的当天和震后一天出现了小范围的正异常,随后正异常消失。在地震期间地磁活动水平总体都相当平静,且太阳处于一个相对较稳定的中低活动水平,电离层出现的异常很可能与此次缅甸地震有关。     

2011年5月中国东北Mw5.7深震的非同寻常震源机制：区域波形反演与成因探讨

本研究利用中国区域宽频地震台的波形数据,应用gCAP (generalized Cut And Paste)方法反演了2010年2月18日和2011年5月10日中国东北中俄边界附近发生的两个深震的矩张量解,与全球地震矩张量测定机构的结果对比分析,证实了2011年5月深震具有显著的补偿线性单力偶矢量(CLVD)成分,表明基于区域波形资料的gCAP反演可获得较可靠的深震震源机制结果.结合研究区1977-2010年的深震震源机制数据反演确定的日本俯冲带前缘的区域应力场方向,分析认为2011年5月深震的非同寻常震源机制,可能是由于日本东北近海M_w9.0地震造成南东东向拉张应力的变化而造成的,属于日本俯冲带动力作用过程中的响应活动.     

The Vrancea,Romania, earthquake of March 4, 1977 — a quite successful prediction

The available data on the destructive intermediate earthquakes ($\text{M ? 6}\text{3}\text{4}$) in the Vrancea, Romania, region have been examined with the aim of revealing some time-magnitude regularities. The basic idea is that the total sequence (? 1100–1973 yr.), which appears as random, could be decomposed in some regular source-components which, by extrapolation, are superimposed to predict the future total sequence.The common nature of faulting (reverse dip-slip) and inferred regularities in the time-magnitude pattern of destructive Romanian earthquakes — (a) three active (seismic) time-bands alternating with quiet periods, the existence of (b) “quasicycles” and of (c) “supercycles” — led to the following predictions: (1) the occurrence of a shock with $\text{M ≈ 6}\text{3}\text{4}\text{? 7}$ in 1980 ± 13 years; and (2) later earthquakes are predicted in 2005, in 2030–2040 ($\text{M ≈ 6}\text{3}\text{4}\text{? 7}$), and one with nearly maximum magnitude ($\text{M = 7}\text{1}\text{2}\text{?7}\text{3}\text{4}$) in 2070–2090.In every century, about 40 years represent a time interval of high seismic danger for Romania and, according to the proposed long-term time-magnitude model, three destructive earthquakes arc to occur in (and/or near) the evidenced seismic periods P₁, P₂ and P₃.It is shown that, taking into account the actual difficulties involved in the earthquake prediction, the Vrancea destructive earthquake of March 4, 1977 (M = 7.1) was quite successfully predicted.     

全球地震早期预警研究综述

近年来地震预警技术在国际上得到迅速的发展,并有成功预警且收到减灾实效的先例.本文系统介绍了地震早期预警的方法,包括波前探测、P波应用、现地预警和区域预警;介绍了地震早期预警系统在墨西哥、日本、土耳其、中国台湾和罗马尼亚等国家和地区的应用情况.还对地震预警中目前存在的问题和挑战以及远景进行了分析.     

滑动 AR 谱分析与地震信息处理

用滑动 AR 谱分析方法对唐山地震前后的张道口短水准资料进行了分析.AR 谱分析参数在唐山地震期间出现异常变化.自1975年1月至1977年1月左右,出现了 T=30天左右的周期,AR 模型拟合最佳阶 Pop6,相应的 FPE 值为高值.      

龙陵地区大地震前后平均应力轴取向的时间变化

本文根据区域台网的观测资料,研究了云南省龙陵地区1971年至1980年的小震平均节面解的变化特点。结果表明:1.1971年2月至1975年11月,平均节面解的P轴方位同北东-南西向的区域应力场一致;2.大震前半年和大震后两天的P轴方位变为340°和176°,同主震的P轴相一致;3.强余震前的小震平均节面解同强余震的节面解相似;4.1977年至1980年3月,P波初动符号的矛盾比上升到30％以上,在此期间本区未发生5级以上的地震。最后讨论了本文所得的结果及其前兆意义。     

Analysis of ionospheric vertical total electron content before the 1 April 2014 Mw 8.2 Chile earthquake

This paper studies ionospheric vertical total electron content (VTEC) variations before the 1 April 2014 Mw 8.2 Chile earthquake. VTEC derived from 14 global positioning system (GPS) stations and global ionospheric map (GIM) were used to analyze ionospheric variations before the earthquake using the sliding interquartile range method, and the results showed that significant positive VTEC anomalies occurred on 28 March. To explore possible causes of these anomalies, effects of solar and geomagnetic activities were examined, and VTEC variations during 17 March to 31 March in 2009–2013 were cross-compared. Also, VTEC for a full year before the earthquake was investigated. The results indicated that the anomalies were weakly associated with high solar activities and geomagnetic storms and that the anomalies were not normal seasonal and diurnal variations. An analysis of the spatial distribution of the observed anomalies was also presented, and it demonstrated that the anomalies specifically appeared around the epicenter on 28 March. We suggest that the observed anomalies may be associated with the subsequent Chile earthquake. Equatorial anomaly variations were analyzed to discuss the possible physical mechanism, and results showed that the equatorial anomaly unusually increased on 28 March, which indicates that anomalous electric fields generated in the earthquake preparation area and the meridional wind are possible causes of the observed ionospheric anomalies.     

Evaluation of the earthquake performance of anchored wine tanks during the San Juan,Argentina, 1977 earthquakexs

This paper details the damage sustained by a number of wine tanks during the San Juan, Argentina, 1977 earthquake. The available ground motion information is used to compare the actual tank performance with that predicted. Two of the tanks examined were located quite near the two accelerographs that recorded the ground motion in the city of San Juan for the main shock. An empirical attenuation formula which describes the intensity of the shaking was derived for this earthquake and used in a quantitative evaluation of the performance of a number of other tanks. By correlating and comparing the observed performance of the anchors and what was predicted we see the predictions are upheld by the actual damage. When the anchoring system failed during the earthquake the tanks were rendered effectively unanchored. Consequently, the state of stress that results from their base uplift was then examined in conjunction with the tank wall stability approach proposed by the author, and seen to give results consistent with the observed tank wall performance.     

Seismicity before and after the two great Sumatra earthquakes of 2004 and 2005

The Harvard CMT catalogue contains 481 shallow earthquakes that occurred between 1 January 1977 and 30 November 2005 within a broad region defined by the geographical latitude from 3°S to 14°N and by the longitude from 91°E to 102°E. There are 230 events that occurred before the great earthquake of 26 December 2004. Their surface distribution is not uniform and the source area of the 2004 great event appears as an area of seismic quiescence with a radius of about 100 km. There are 186 events that occurred between the two great earthquakes of 26 December 2004 and 28 March 2005. Practically all of them are located to the northwest from the great earthquake of 2005, that in turn was followed by 63 events, mostly located to the southeast. The cumulative seismic moment from earthquakes before the occurrence of the great event of 2004 increased rather regularly with time, with sudden increase about twenty years and two years before the occurrence of the great event. The seismic moment of earthquakes between the two great events increased rapidly during the first ten-fifteen days, then flattened out and increased slowly with time. After the great event of 2005 the seismic moment shows quiet increase during some 115 days, then sudden jump, followed by very small activity till the end of our observations. From the spatial distribution of seismic moment of earthquakes that occurred before the great event of 2004 it follows that its largest release appeared to the southeast from the great event, around the rupture area of the great earthquake of 2005. The largest release of seismic moment from earthquakes between the two great events is observed in the vicinity of the 2004 event and further up to the north. The seismic moment from earthquakes that occurred after the great event of 2005 was mostly released in its vicinity and further down to the south.     

2010年3月6日唐山滦县M_L4.7地震序列分析

2010年3月6日河北唐山老震区发生了ML4.7级地震,震后余震序列丰富,成为6年多较为显著的一次地震事件。4月9日在唐山震区的丰南又发生了ML4.6级地震。本文分析探讨序列特征及其预测意义。     

邢台地震断层运动特征反演分析

依据地形变测量资料,采用不均匀位错反演方法,建立邢台地区两个不同的断层模型,分别计算了 １９６６ 年邢台地震时 ３ 月８ 日６．８ 级地震、３ 月２２ 日６．７ 级和 ７．２ 级地震及整个震群过程断层产生的不均匀错动量,并对结果特征进行了分析     

中国大陆7级地震活动状态分析

在前人研究中国大陆地震活动的时间非平稳性认识的基础上, 将中国大陆7级以上地震活动状态划分为三类, 分别为少发时段(平静期)、 增多时段、 丛发时段(活跃期), 将这三类时段简称为: Ⅰ类时段、 Ⅱ类时段和Ⅲ类时段。 并利用显著性检验对相应划分结果进行了初步分析, 认为中国大陆可能以Ⅱ类时段为其基本状态, Ⅲ类时段和Ⅰ类时段均是在Ⅱ类时段状态上的上下偏离; 中国大陆自1901年以来的前后50余年的强震活动基本状态并没有发生显著改变, 今后一段时期内的7级以上强震活动可能仍将重复20世纪的活动规律; 1901年以来的百年资料显示, 每一个Ⅲ类时段前都存在一个Ⅱ类时段, 强震活动增强需要一个过程, 没有Ⅰ类时段直接进入Ⅲ类时段的先例; 2008年3月21日新疆于田7.3级地震的发生, 可能意味着中国大陆已进入Ⅱ类时段。     

Radon Precursory Signals for Some Earthquakes of Magnitude > 5 Occurred in N-W Himalaya: An Overview

The N-W Himalaya was rocked by a few major and many minor earthquakes. Two major earthquakes in Garhwal Himalaya: Uttarkashi earthquake of magnitude M_s= 7.0 (m_b = 6.6) on October 20, 1991 in Bhagirthi valley and Chamoli earthquake of M_s= 6.5 (m_b = 6.8) on March 29, 1999 in the Alaknanda valley and one in Himachal Himalaya: Chamba earthquake of magnitude 5.1 on March 24, 1995 in Chamba region, were recorded during the last decade and correlated with radon anomalies. The helium anomaly for Chamoli earthquake was also recorded and the Helium/Radon ratio model was tested on it. The precursory nature of radon and helium anomalies is a strong indicator in favor of geochemical precursors for earthquake prediction and a preliminary test for the Helium/Radon ratio model.